HARTINGTON – The Wausa High School speech team talked its way into a top-five finish at its first meet of the year.
Wausa kicked off the 2024 speech season on Jan. 27 in Hartington at the 18-team Hartington- Newcastle/Cedar Catholic Invitational and finished in fourth place overall in the varsity team standings.
Hartington-Newcastle won its home meet with a score of 163 points, followed by Wayne with 161, Battle Creek with 139, Wausa with 107 and Plainview with 89.
Husband-and-wife duo Kyle and Samantha Stevens are the co-coaches of the Wausa speech team.
“Mrs. Stevens and I are proud of the students,” Kyle Stevens said. “They put in a lot of hard work (last) week to get ready to present. This is a very competitive meet, and we are both happy with the way the kids performed. It was a good first step to start the season.”
There were two sets of individual varsity finals during the meet – the top six finishers in the Champs Final and the next six finishers in the Honors Final.
Wausa’s varsity medal winners in the Champs Final were: - Senior Holly Johnson, champion, Entertainment Speaking, and third place, Serious Prose.
- Sophomore Braydon Hoesing, runner-up, Program of Oral Interpretation, and runner-up, Humorous Prose.
- Sophomore Avery Stevens, fourth, Persuasive Speaking.
- Sophomore Braydon Hoesing and freshman Rogan Hoesing, fifth, Duet Acting.
- Senior Claire Kumm, fifth, Persuasive Speaking.
- Senior Holly Johnson, senior Claire Kumm, senior Cade Wakeley, junior Kendall Story and sophomore Avery Stevens, fifth, Oral Interpretation of Drama.
Wausa varsity team members in the Honors Final were: - Sophomore Luke Woockman, champion, Entertainment Speaking.
- Senior Sophia Wilken, third, Serious Prose, and fourth, Program of Oral Interpretation.
- Senior Hadley Vanness, sophomore Cody Bloomquist, sophomore Taylor Dawson, sophomore Alijah Nelson and sophomore Gaven Nipp, fifth, Oral Interpretation of Drama.
- Sophomore Alijah Nelson, sixth, Humorous Prose.
The Wausa junior varsity team placed sixth overall in the competition’s JV division and its medal winners were: - Freshman Noel Kumm, runner-up, Persuasive Speaking.
- Freshman Rogan Hoesing, runner-up, Informative Speaking.
- Sophomore Anya Peters, fifth, Program of Oral Interpretation.
- Freshmen Elle Brazel, Carlie Kleinschmit, Brady Kristensen, Noel Kumm and Jaidynn Timmerman, fifth, Oral Interpretation of Drama.
After traveling to Hartington on Jan. 27 to open the speech season, Wausa will hit the road to Wayne on Feb. 3 for the Wayne High/Wayne State Classic.
“The next step is to build on last weekend and work to improve for next Saturday,” Kyle Stevens said. “If we can keep that positive momentum and growth going, we will be able to really reach our full potential. The students are focused and want to do well, and Mrs. Stevens and I are excited to see what is next for them.”
